What do you all think of a Ted Lindsay - Russell Bowie - Martin St Louis first line? I think it's a perfect mix of playmaking and goalscoring, all three men can handle the puck and bring it up ice, both wing back check, and Lindsay is probably the toughest pound-for-pound hockey player ever.

I realize it's not a traditional line - usually the relatively one dimensional goal scorer plays wing - here he's playing center.

But Ted Lindsay and Martin St Louis are not your traditional wingers. Both are very adept at carrying te puck and both have led the league in assists (with Lindsay equally as good at scoring as he is at playmaking).

It's not what I originally envisioned (I liked Lindsay and Selanne on opposite wings), but I think it might be the best thing for my team.

what do you all think of a ted lindsay - russell bowie - martin st louis first line? I think it's a perfect mix of playmaking and goalscoring, all three men can handle the puck and bring it up ice, both wing back check, and lindsay is probably the toughest pound-for-pound hockey player ever.

I realize it's not a traditional line - usually the relatively one dimensional goal scorer plays wing - here he's playing center.

But ted lindsay and martin st louis are not your traditional wingers. Both are very adept at carrying te puck and both have led the league in assists (with lindsay equally as good at scoring as he is at playmaking).

It's not what i originally envisioned (i liked lindsay and selanne on opposite wings), but i think it might be the best thing for my team.

Lindsay as a puckwinner isn't exactly ideal when he is also the best offensive player on the line, but at this point Bowie + either of your RWs is going to be a soft line, so I think you just have to swallow hard and go with it.

The skill works quite well with a Lindsay-Bowie-St. Louis line, and they were all players that were adept at avoiding checks and not letting their size hold them back. But I do agree, even with Ted Lindsay, the size is an issue. A guy like Rod Langway in your division could give these guys some problems. Sure, Lindsay will be happy to fight anyone that takes advantage of Bowie or St. Louis, but there comes a point where they might just get manhandled down low in the corners and in front of the net.

I was trying to build a Kariya-Bowie-Howe line, which would have been quite good IMO because Howe provides the necessary police factor, size, and toughness to make the line work.

The line would be spending an awful lot of time backed up by Jack Stewart, so I'm not worried about needing a policeman. But jack isn't going to go deep into the offensive zone to help battle for pucks, so point taken.

Why draft Dave Keon if you aren't matching him up against top lines? Keon isn't a second round pick for his offense.

I guess it will depend on I take with my next couple picks as well, but I could always roll a Krutov-Keon-xxxxx and Xxxxx-Gilmour-Middleton for now. I think Gilmour and Keon are fairly interchangeable as it is. Gilmour is a little stronger offensively, Keon a little better defensively, but both are capable of shutting people down. Really it'll depend on matchups. I'll probably match Gilmour against bigger top centers and Keon against average sized and smaller top centers.

Or I could keep Krutov-Gilmour-Middleton there, and draft wingers for Kein, one of which I already have in mind with next rounds pick....I still haven't decided yet.

Was wondering what kind of wingers I should surround Sundin with. He reads as a good all around centre, so do I go for 1 gritty forward and a playmaker or 1 goal scorer and a gritty forward (Similar to my 1st line)?

There's a quote in EB's bio of Frank Mahovlich of a writer wondering why Imlach always played Frank with Keon, who "can't or won't pass to his left."

Yeah I was planning on grabbing a strong defensive LW with one of my next two picks, and then basing my defensive matchups on whether or not the line was stronger down the right or left wing, then going with either Gilmour-Middleton if they're strong down the left, or undrafted LW-Keon if they're strong down the right, but I figured I'd ask and see what others thought, and maybe even consider throwing Krutov on the Keon line....but yeah I'm pretty sure at this point Krutov-Gilmour-Middleton is going to be my top line and they're going to stay together.

Also, that's a very interesting quote. Certainly an exaggeration of annoyance due to Mahovlich's great and high skill level compared to Keon, but a funny quote nonetheless.

Is it worth sacraficing speed and skill for toughness and grit when I round out my top line of Kharlamov-Taylor-xxx ?

I already know it's going to get questioned but I feel like the line would be much more effective with a speedy skilled player. It's pretty clear most of their damage will be done in transition off the rush, and you'd have to catch them to hit them...

Is it worth sacraficing speed and skill for toughness and grit when I round out my top line of Kharlamov-Taylor-xxx ?

I already know it's going to get questioned but I feel like the line would be much more effective with a speedy skilled player. It's pretty clear most of their damage will be done in transition off the rush, and you'd have to catch them to hit them...